Chapter 61: Trying Food At The Canteen
The overall area of Exile Town, situated in a valley, wasn't huge. Excluding the heavily vegetated area at the foot of the mountains outside the town, it covered roughly 1.5 square kilometers.
Of course, calling it small would be an understatement. It was approximately the size of Malé, the capital of the Maldives.
In this town, there were only several dozen buildings (wooden or brick huts). The "resident population" consisted of three hundred skeletons, a dozen or so zombies, and twenty "advanced NPCs." It was undoubtedly an unusually spacious town.
Furthermore, since the majority of the population—the skeletons—didn't require housing, both buildings and open spaces were largely unused.
Anthony, who had been a tailor in the Kenyan Empire during his youth but abandoned his old profession to become a mercenary upon discovering his talent for combat, had a rugged appearance and a hot-headed temperament. However, when forced to do things, he could indeed be rather meticulous.
He had sold many waist pouches and backpacks and never made a mistake in the accounts. When players returned damaged waist pouches and backpacks at a low price, he could expertly repair the damage and resell them.
Among the former bandits, his specialization had the most impressive achievements.
The threat of being turned into a woman motivated Anthony greatly. Before nightfall, he had already arranged accommodations for the new female workers at the tailor shop and distributed living supplies to them. Following Yang's instructions, he created personal health records for these women, engaging in conversations to inquire about their health conditions. He recorded all the ailments these women had accumulated over the years due to malnutrition and their weaving work.
It was only late into the night when Anthony finally finished the tasks at hand. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, closed the shop door, and wearily dragged his feet to find Big Brother Hal.
Exile Town was no quieter at midnight than in the day. The undead, who didn't distinguish between day and night, were still wandering the streets. Anthony paid no attention to these undead, whom he considered to be sick in the heads. He bypassed two groups of undead in street skirmishes on the way to arriving at the Wanderer Guild site.
Sure enough, Hal, Finley, and Tuttle were all still awake and gathered in front of Tuttle's tent… though the vibe among the three seemed slightly strange compared to other days.
"You're here, Anthony." Finley noticed his fellow comrade approaching with an oil lamp and shifted to make room for him.
As soon as Anthony sat down, he noticed a green-covered book on a box to the right of Finley. On the cover, written in the common language, were the words: Employee Health Records.
"…You guys also received people?" asked Anthony.
Finley pointed to the several newly constructed huts on the site.
Tuttle spread his hand and said, "Five. Yang had those undead bring five people over and asked us to arrange for their care. He even threatened to turn all of us into women if anything happened to those five women."
Anthony: "…"
He very much wanted to angrily yell, "Why the hell do I have to take care of 12 people all by myself?!" But then, he realized it wouldn't make a difference, so he decided to keep it in.
"That damned black mage, does he think we won't dare cause trouble for him?" Finley muttered gloomily. "Previously… Did Rex report us?"
The four former bandits present all grimaced.
Some days ago, after carefully confirming that Yang had indeed left Exile Town and the number of undead had greatly decreased, these former bandits had once more started plotting mischief.
Simply running away wouldn't count as causing trouble, but they were reluctant to just leave and disappear without a trace. Therefore, they planned to raid the Town Hall, burn down everything, and make their escape.
The containers stacked in the valley were indeed tempting, but they lacked the manpower to move much, so they reluctantly gave up.
If it weren't for Rex, a guy they usually had no dealings with, coming out and giving them a reminder, these former bandits might have already returned to the Sorensen Mountains.
Black Mage Yang, who had been relentlessly pursued by the Radiant Sun Church all over the continent even before they were born, had always managed to escape and remained at large. How could he be bad at tracking and counter-tracking?
Could they really escape if they angered the Nightmare Butcher?
Would Yang, who had forgiven them once, forgive them a second time?
Most of the mistakes they committed weren't too difficult to rectify if they realized their errors and made amends.
"Rex has no reason to keep our secret indeed," Tuttle said coldly. "However, since Yang entrusted those civilians he personally brought back to us, it proves… that he still doesn't care whether we are loyal or not."
Tuttle's blunt honesty made Hal and the others both relieved and somewhat bitter… Indeed, the former bandits had never intended to be loyal to Yang, but it was still somewhat humiliating to be looked down upon like this.
"Guys, don't forget our decision," Finley said softly. "Whether Yang needs our loyalty or not is entirely irrelevant to us. What we have to do… is to be patient enough."
Giving up causing trouble didn't mean that these former bandits had given up their yearning for freedom; they simply changed their strategy. The more Yang interacted with the outside world, the more likely his tracks would be discovered by the radical Radiant Sun Church. The former bandits just needed to be patient and wait until the relentless Radiant Sun Church came knocking. At that time, they could readily sell out Yang.
Now that he was embracing the mindset of "enduring humiliation and living in Exile Town for an extended period," Hal, who couldn't stand players since long ago, no longer spared the undead that provoked him and would pursue such players until they were chopped down…
Those present nodded their heads solemnly.
The radicalism of the Radiant Sun Church's Inquisition was world-renowned. In the past, these former bandits would never wish to have any dealings with these lunatics, but now, they hoped to see these radical fanatics, who could drown out the heretics and blasphemers just by shouting "Holy Light above!"
At this moment, a "beep" suddenly sounded in their ears.
The four of them jumped up and instantly drew their weapons, eyeing their surroundings fearfully.
In their agreement with Yang, it had been made very clear that he wouldn't monitor them during "off-duty" hours. Could this guy be breaking the agreement?!
The entire Wanderer Guild site was desolate, and there was no sight of the imagined undead army surrounding them or any trace of the black mage.
"Ehh… Wait a minute, it seems like someone has conveyed a message to us through the imprint matrix." Finley sensed the imprint matrix and frowned as he struggled to read the message aloud, "Um… 'Undead Merchant Association'… something… can-teen… online… colleagues… Try food?!"
The other three former bandits: "???"
———
On the empty lot diagonally across from the Butcher's worksite, which covered an area of slightly over 300 square meters, stood a large canteen built with discarded container steel plates.
Despite being able to see the canteen right after leaving the tent, Manan didn't react much to it.
During the night of their "Rebellion," Manan's slip of the tongue had caused the frenzied undead to swarm the former bandits. Because of this, Manan received quite a bit of rebuke, and Hal and the others decided not to involve him in their discussion anymore.
Manan had a thick beard and a rough face, but despite his coarse appearance, he was actually quite a young fellow in his twenties. At this age, he couldn't handle much pressure, and when he found himself being excluded, he quickly became dejected.
Manan had witnessed the undead wielding various tools, some of which he could recognize, and erecting this steel plate structure in just a few days, then watched as they used tricycle carts to haul supplies from the foothills outside the town to fill the warehouse section that had been partitioned off…
However, Manan wasn't in the mood to share what he saw with his brothers-in-arms.
Four women ranging in degrees of blindness had been also assigned to the Butcher workshop. The now reticent and broody Manan didn't even spare a second glance at the threat Yang had transmitted through the matrix.
He arranged for these four women to stay in a wooden hut a short distance away from the Butcher workshop and made a few rounds to collect and distribute their living supplies before he slunk back into his own world, without talking to or interacting with anyone.
When the sky turned dark, Manan hurriedly consumed half a pound of bread and a bit of dried vegetable soup from his rations, then packed up his things and prepared to return back to his tent and sleep.
"Hey, Old… Young Ma!"
Manam didn't even think that he was being called and continued to pack up his utensils.
"Young Ma! Brother Ma!"
Manan placed the utensils and tableware into a basin, poured in some water, and continued to wash.
Master Liu, standing by the side of the street, glanced at Once Your Teacher and asked, "Ah, Yu Chi, why isn't this NPC responding?"
"…Though this NPC is called Manan, I don't think his surname is Ma…" said Teacher Yu Chi.
Master Liu waved his hand once more. "Manan!"
Manan finally realized someone was calling him and looked up hesitantly.
Two undead stood across the street not too far from his tent, and one of them wearing an apron and arm sleeves seemed to be striking up a conversation with him cheerfully, "Our Exile Town employee canteen is opening tomorrow. We've tried cooking a few dishes tonight and wonder if it's suited to the taste of you guys. Would you come try them and give some feedback?"
Manan: "??"
The senses of the undead weren't complete. They could see, hear, and touch, but they couldn't feel temperature, had a diminished sense of smell, and completely lacked taste.
Master Liu, who loved cooking since his youth and once considered opening a restaurant serving home-cooked food after retirement, couldn't determine if the dishes he made were normal, even if he had decades of cooking experience…
Rex, who knew that the undead could cook, was even more reclusive than the dejected Manan and had never mentioned such a thing to anyone. Thus, Manan, who deep down was still young and adventurous, remained silent for a moment before he put down his utensils and curiously approached the two undead.
After successfully calling out Manan, Master Liu then went to the armor shop next door with Manan in tow.
When Hal, Tuttle, Finley, and Anthony cautiously arrived at Master Liu's canteen, they saw a table with empty plates, as well as Manan and the others seated there with looks of contentment on their faces.
There was also an undead in a waistcloth and arm sleeves holding a small notebook at the side, asking the bloated former bandits questions, "Is this dish too salty?
"How about this braised pork?
"Is the roasted eggplant too oily for you?
"Do you like the coriander in this cold dish?
"Does the flavor of the fermented black beans suit you?"
Hal and the three new arrivals: "???"
"Ahh, Old Liu, we didn't prepare enough food," Old Geng slapped his thigh and said to Master Liu when he saw the four newcomers.
"These young friends ate too quickly and can't taste the flavors of the dishes." Master Liu was also rather unsatisfied, and he stuffed the notebook into his waist pocket before waving to Hal and the other three. "Sit down and wait. I'll cook for you! Yu Chi, come and help prepare the cold dish!"
"Alright!" Teacher Yu Chi immediately went to assist.
A group of women had also been assigned to Master Liu's canteen, but having been on the road for several days and being ridden with health issues from malnutrition and excessive labor meant that they wouldn't start working immediately.
Hal and the others: "…"
They silently glanced at the content faces of Manan and the others, then sniffed the lingering and tantalizing aroma in the air before obediently finding a place to sit down.
Shortly after, from the semi-open kitchen came an extremely enticing aroma of stir-fried dishes, even more irresistible than the soup made from seasoning sachets…
Chinese cuisine had the characteristics of taking two hours to prepare the ingredients but only five minutes to stir-fry the dishes. Moreover, Yang Qiu asked Director Lu for a lot of pre-processed semi-finished dishes, where even the pork belly provided was factory-sliced and frozen, so stir-frying a dish would be extremely efficient.
In less than twenty minutes, a meal consisting of a meat dish, two vegetable dishes, and soup, including the cold dish appetizer, was served on the table.
After he had taken the first bite, there were only two very strong thoughts in Anthony's mind.
The first was, Has everything I have eaten in the past been meant for pigs?
While the second was, Please take your time to come, Radiant Sun Church!
After that, Anthony no longer had time to think because he saw Finley giving up on using a fork and directly grabbing at the food with his hands. Immediately, Anthony reached his own dirty hands out.
"Hey, slow down! Chew carefully! Are you guys here to give feedback or to snatch food!" Master Liu cried out anxiously.
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